Gillian Anderson turned down role a role in Downton Abbey

Gillian Anderson has claimed that she turned down a role on hit TV show Downton Abbey.

The X Files star, who was promoting her new period adaptation Great Expectations in the US, said: "Hopefully people will embrace it with the same love that flowed toward Downton Abbey," adding: "I was actually offered a part in Downton."

The actress, who is no stranger to period dramas, having also appeared in Bleak House, later revealed that she had been approached to play the role of Cora Crawley, played by Elizabeth McGovern. It is thought that Gillian may have been too young to play Downton's matriarch as she is seven years younger than Elizabeth and only 13 years older than her would-be on-screen daughter, Michelle Dockery.